Louisville basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Syracuse

Dwayne Sutton stars as he avenges his poor performance vs. Syracuse from a year ago

Last year’s game against Syracuse was frustrating as hell much like the two games the Cards have dropped in a row against Georgia Tech and Clemson.

The patented 2-3 zone from Jim Boeheim and the Orange was deployed perfectly as they kept everything outside, forcing Louisville into shooting 28 three-pointers of which they only made six. Yikes.

One of the biggest standouts from that game a year ago, aside from the awful shooting and shot selection, was the struggles of Dwayne Sutton.

Up until that game, Sutton had scored in double-digits in five out of the Cards’ six prior games, including hitting 4/7 from three against Florida State and dropping 15 and six against Duke. Leading up to Cuse, Sutton was without question becoming the team’s tertiary scoring option behind Jordan Nwora and Christen Cunningham while providing elite level rebounding and defense like we’ve been used to seeing.

Something seemed to happen with Sutton against Syracuse. Whether it was the 2-3 zone, fatigue catching up to him (he had averaged 35.8 minutes per game in the six matchups leading up to Syracuse), or just an off night, Sutton played arguably his worst game as a Cardinal.

Alternating between the high-post in the middle of the 2-3 zone or playing out on the wing, Sutton struggled to shoot it going 1/10 on the night including 0-3 from deep. While he did still grab a team-high eight rebounds he looked like a completely different guy than we had seen up until that point.

This year considering the magnitude of this game and the expectations that Chris Mack has for his team in terms of energy and play, I expect Dwayne Sutton to lead by example and bounce back in a major way for Syracuse. Against Clemson, Sutton was easily the second-best player for Louisville behind David Johnson, pitching in a season-high 18 points while grabbing seven rebounds.

Through the two back-to-back losses, Sutton was one of the only productive and consistent offensive players scoring a combined 27 points on nearly 50 percent shooting. Combine that with Louisville’s back being against the walls in a game against an inferior Syracuse team who hasn’t been able to defend at nearly the same level we’ve been accustomed to seeing, and I think we’re going to get a “Dwayne game,”